By Thursday morning, the review of Vangard Investments had become more serious.
Daniel Price arrived at Arturo's office carrying two thick folders and a laptop.
Arturo looked up from his desk.
"Tell me you found the explanation."
Daniel placed the folders on the table.
"I found something that requires a much closer investigation."
Arturo gestured for him to continue.
Daniel opened the first folder.
It contained the original Sterling valuation, the revised purchase schedule, and correspondence between Vangard employees and an external consulting firm.
"The original valuation placed the property below the price we eventually paid," Daniel explained. "That wasn't necessarily a problem. The investment committee could have approved a higher price if the development plan justified it."
"But it didn't?"
"The revised report included projected income from a development phase that had not yet received final approval."
Arturo leaned forward.
"Who authorized the projections?"
"The investment director, Marcus Bell."
Arturo frowned.
Marcus had been with Vangard for four years. He had recruited several analysts, led multiple acquisitions, and developed a reputation for finding opportunities other investors overlooked.
Arturo trusted him.
At least, he had believed he did.
"Marcus told me the development rights were practically guaranteed."
"That isn't what the correspondence says."
Daniel opened his laptop and turned the screen toward Arturo.
An email from the external consultant stated that the projections were preliminary and should not be used to establish a final property valuation until the relevant approvals were secured.
A second email, sent several days later, requested clarification about the revised assumptions.
The response had come from someone using Marcus's account.
It stated that the company had sufficient evidence to proceed and that the remaining approvals were expected shortly.
Arturo read the exchange twice.
"Why wasn't this brought to me?"
Daniel's expression tightened.
"That's the question I've been trying to answer."
"Did you know about the lower valuation before the acquisition closed?"
"I knew that an earlier report existed. I did not know that the final financing package contained assumptions that differed materially from the original consultant's position."
"Who prepared the financing package?"
"Marcus's team supplied the investment summary. My department compiled the financial schedules."
Arturo stood and walked toward the window.
He remembered the meeting where Marcus had presented the acquisition.
The presentation had been polished and confident. Marcus described the location as an emerging commercial center and emphasized the potential revenue from a planned redevelopment.
Arturo had challenged the acquisition price once.
Marcus had replied that another investor was preparing an offer.
Arturo had approved the transaction that afternoon.
He had not requested a separate review of the revised valuation.
He had been too focused on winning.
"Could someone have altered the supporting documents?" Arturo asked.
"Possibly. But we shouldn't assume that without examining the records."
Daniel closed the laptop.
"The committee wants the original files, the approval history, and a reconciliation of every material assumption. They also want an explanation for the difference between the purchase schedule and the figures reported to our lenders."
Arturo turned around.
"What difference?"
Daniel hesitated.
"That is the second problem."
He opened the other folder.
Several pages contained financial schedules from Vangard's latest lender update. The figures did not match the numbers in the internal acquisition model.
Some expenses had been classified differently. Certain projected revenues appeared earlier in the reporting period than the underlying agreements justified.
Arturo scanned the pages.
"Who signed off on this?"
"The finance team prepared the report. Your electronic authorization is attached."
"I never reviewed this version."
Daniel remained silent.
Arturo felt his pulse quicken.
"You're telling me someone used my authorization?"
"I'm telling you that the audit trail records your approval. We need to establish exactly what you saw before it was submitted."
Arturo looked at his computer.
He had approved dozens of documents during the previous quarter. Many arrived through internal systems with summaries prepared by department heads. He usually reviewed the most important figures and relied on his staff to ensure that supporting schedules were accurate.
He had considered that process efficient.
Now he was wondering whether he had mistaken delegation for control.
"Can we correct the report?" he asked.
"We can correct inaccurate information. But we cannot simply replace the records and pretend the original submission never happened."
Arturo rubbed his face.
"If the lenders discover a reporting error, they could restrict our credit."
"That's why we need to address it immediately."
"And if the financing committee sees this?"
"They already have access to the relevant records."
Arturo looked at Daniel sharply.
"You sent them everything?"
"I sent the documents they requested."
"Without speaking to me?"
"I tried to speak to you yesterday. You told me to handle it."
Arturo remembered the call.
He had been furious about the financing delay and had ended the conversation before Daniel could finish explaining.
He had assumed the problem would disappear if he gave his CFO a simple instruction.
Now he understood that Daniel had been trying to warn him.
"Where is Marcus?" Arturo asked.
"He isn't in the office today."
"Call him."
Daniel did.
The call went unanswered.
He tried again.
Nothing.
Arturo stared at the phone.
"Find out where he is."
Daniel nodded.
Before leaving, he paused at the door.
"Arturo, there's something else."
"What?"
"The review team has requested information about the company's related-party transactions. They want to know whether any outside entity received compensation connected to Sterling."
Arturo frowned.
"Why would they ask that?"
"Because a payment was made to a consulting company that appears to have been involved in the acquisition."
"Which company?"
Daniel read the name from his notes.
"Northbridge Advisory."
Arturo had never heard of it.
He searched his email.
Nothing appeared under that name.
He checked the acquisition files and found a reference to a consulting fee included in the transaction expenses. The amount was not enormous compared with the total purchase price, but it was large enough to require documentation.
The invoice listed Northbridge Advisory as the recipient.
The approval had been recorded under Marcus Bell's department.
Arturo looked up.
"Did finance verify the company?"
"We verified the invoice against the purchase documentation provided by the investment team."
"That's not what I asked."
Daniel's silence answered him.
Arturo returned to his desk and opened the company's internal records.
He searched for Northbridge Advisory.
The system returned a vendor profile, a payment history, and a registration document.
The profile contained an address in a commercial building shared by dozens of small businesses.
The payment history showed two transactions.
One had been processed shortly before the Sterling acquisition.
The other had been recorded several weeks later.
Arturo opened the registration document.
The company had been established less than a year earlier.
Its listed director was a name he did not recognize.
He stared at the screen.
He had built Vangard because he wanted to prove that he could succeed without his father's influence.
Now the company he had spent seven years building might be facing a crisis because he had trusted the wrong people—or because he had failed to ask the questions that would have revealed what they were doing.
He called Marcus again.
This time, someone answered.
"Marcus," Arturo said. "We need to talk about Sterling."
There was a pause.
"What's wrong?"
"The financing committee has identified discrepancies in the valuation and reporting records. They also have questions about Northbridge Advisory."
Marcus exhaled.
"I was wondering when that would happen."
Arturo went completely still.
"What does that mean?"
"It means I need to explain something to you."
"Then explain it."
"Not over the phone."
Arturo's voice sharpened.
"Where are you?"
Another pause followed.
Then Marcus said something that made Arturo's blood run cold.
"I'm not coming back to the office until I know what the company is going to do."
The line went dead.
Arturo lowered the phone slowly.
For the first time, the possibility of deliberate misconduct was no longer an abstract concern buried in a financial report.
Someone inside his company appeared to know more than he had admitted.
And that person had just made it clear that he was afraid of what the investigation might uncover.